Arts Preview: Cinemusica at Arena Grand

Thursday

Cineastes, music fans and portmanteau lovers will all find something to enjoy at Cinemusica, where local filmmakers and musicians will screen films with live soundtracks.

Arts Preview: Cinemusica at Arena Grand

By Lauren Hutchison Cineastes, music fans and portmanteau lovers will all find something to enjoy at Cinemusica, where local filmmakers and musicians will screen films with live soundtracks. The creative collaborators from Wonderland will present the multimedia mashup Saturday at the Arena Grand. Cinemusica's artists worked together in a variety of ways. Musicians scored old classics or new films. Filmmakers created new videos inspired by music. Some artists collaborated closely; others worked independently. Their finished works span genres from science-fiction to drama, from jazz to cartoon-inspired music. Filmmaker Corey Aumiller created a short film about an aging folk musician's struggle with losing his senses; guitarist Aaron Quinn then devised a soundtrack for the film. Aumiller described his work with Quinn as a blind date - he'll hear the finished score for the first time on Saturday night. Aumiller said Cinemusica is a not only a venue for artists to work together, but also a chance for different audiences to mingle. "It's bringing out people who enjoy live music and it's bringing out cinephiles and putting us all in one room. Hopefully we don't have a cage match," he said. Saxophonist Bob Starker said scoring films is a musician's dream job. Starker, along with four other musicians from Whoa Nellie, formed The Selenite Orchestra, named after the pesky aliens from the silent film they're scoring, the sci-fi classic "A Trip to the Moon." Starker described their soundtrack style as Tom Waits meets Warner Bros. cartoons. "It's like the 'Wizard of Oz'/'Dark Side of the Moon' thing: If you go there with the expectation that it's going to fit, it kind of does," he said. Wonderland executive director Adam Brouillette said Cinemusica fits in with the team's creative goals. "(Wonderland is) all about taking creativity, putting it into new formats, and finding ways for it to mix and work together. This event is a microcosm of that," he said. Cinemusica also features films from Tony Belleau, Andrew Ina, Dan Gerdeman, Matt Meindl and Alex Trimpe and music by Tigers in the Mirror. DJ Walker Crane will perform before and after the films, along with fake movie trailers and word scrambles by comedy group The Asbestos Crew. Tickets are available for $10 at the door, at Tigertree, Middle West Spirits or online at wonderlandcolumbus.com. Photo by Jodi Miller